Deep water well development requires first establishing an open and transparent groundwater management mechanism

Strengthen water-saving management and save one Feitsui Reservoir

The successive plum rain fronts in June finally freed Kaohsiung, Chiayi, and Tainan from the first-stage water restriction signal. Compared with the predicament of third-stage water restrictions during the severe drought of 67 years ago the year before last, although this year faced the drought-resistance test of the second-lowest winter rainfall in 70 years, water restrictions were not expanded, which is related to a considerable extent to the improvement in the refined management capacity of the Water Resources Agency.

In her remarks at the Water Resources Agency's 70th anniversary celebration, President Tsai Ing-wen specifically mentioned: "This year the Water Resources Agency adopted active early warning and response measures, including close cooperation with the Central Weather Bureau, seizing the front period, implementing artificial rain enhancement, and also communicating and coordinating with relevant ministries and local governments to promote regional dispatch, total volume control, and other water-saving measures, effectively saving 340 million tons of water." 340 million tons is equivalent to one Feitsui Reservoir, which clearly shows the importance of water-saving management.

Reducing leakage in tap water saves five Shimen Reservoirs

Similarly, Taiwan Water Corporation Chairman Kuo Chun-ming recently showed the results, saying that the water leakage rate in Kaohsiung has dropped from 26% (equivalent to 400,000 tons of leakage per day) to 11%. In the future, NT$800 million will be allocated to replace about 80 km of pipelines, which can reduce the leakage rate by 5% in 10 years, that is, reduce leakage by 450,000 tons per day, equivalent to the daily water supply of half a Shimen Reservoir; in 10 years, leakage can be reduced by 1 billion tons, equivalent to 5 Shimen Reservoirs. The contribution of Taiwan Water Corporation to a water-saving society is worth anticipating, but there is still room for further improvement.